By 9 a.m. Saturday, the temperature was nearing 70 degrees and the sun was already high and bright: A perfect day for rafting down the Willamette River.

The massive crowd at Riverview Park in Independence evidently thought so, as dozens of families, kayakers, boaters and rafters turned out for the Great Willamette River Raft Race.

The annual race invites water fans of all sorts to float the 12-mile stretch from Independence to Salem, either by boat, raft or your own homemade contraption. The event is ostensibly about speed, with awards given to the first crew to arrive in Salem, but it's also about creativity; maybe a little bit about innovation; and certainly about relaxed fun in the sun.

For one crew, the race wasn't nearly as much about speed as it was about enjoying the river and maybe showing off some design skills. The crew aboard the wooden, two-story raft said they were nearly in last place in last year's event, but did win first for best build.

"We built this last year over a weekend in my garage, just to get the basic form," said James Robinson. "We had eight people aboard last year, so it maybe fits about six," he added with a laugh. "We were definitely over capacity."

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Kayaks, canoes and homemade watercraft take to the water as the Great Willamette River Raft Race shoves off from Riverview Park in Independence.(Photo: Thomas Patterson / Statesman Journal)

Robinson and fellow builder Jon Hillerich came up with the design for the raft in a Denver airport, they said. The final product came out pretty similar to those initial sketches: A wooden beam structure set atop floating blue barrels, adorned with a hammock, plenty of space to sit and an American flag.

"We had heard rumors of a two-story raft and we wanted to try it out," Hillerich said.

Robinson said the group had such a good time floating in the race in the previous two years that they were eager to do it again.

"I just like the idea of building your own craft and getting it on the river," said crewmember Nathan Litkey. "It's pretty romantic."

Last year, it took the two-story raft and its crew approximately five-and-a-half hours to make the trek from Independence to Salem. At the start, they were hoping to come in a little faster this year, but it wasn't a priority.

"We won last year for best build, so that's kind of what we go for," Robinson said.

The Great Willamette River Raft Race is presented by the Networking Exchange Club of Salem/Keizer, KWVT and Retro TV. The race is not only a community builder, but a fundraiser, meant to promote use of the Willamette River while supporting local nonprofit activities.